Until 2005 Italy had conscription and many of them served in the carabinari which is a type of police force, which still polices the community but with different duties from Polizia
To explain the different types of police (Polizia/Carabinari)- I found this-
The Carabinari live in barracks and are part of the military whilst the Italian police are civilian and community based.
Their mission(Carabinari) was to control crime and to serve the community through respect for the Law.
and this
Law enforcement in Italy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia